Canonical releases Ubuntu 23.04 “Lunar Lobster” Beta

Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu, has released Ubuntu 23.04 “Lunar Lobster” Beta for people to download, according to a post on the mailing list. As a beta release, the software you download should look how it’ll look on April 20 when it’s made available as a stable release but there could be bugs right now. Make sure you have a decent internet connection to download the ISO as it comes in at a monstrous 4.5 GB.

It’s not only the main Ubuntu flavour receiving a beta release today either, also included are Ubuntu Server, Cloud, Edubuntu, Kubuntu, Lubuntu, Ubuntu Budgie, Ubuntu Kylin, Ubuntu MATE, Ubuntu Studio, Ubuntu Unity, Xubuntu, and the recently graduated Ubuntu Cinnamon which Neowin covered earlier in the week.

Two of the main features in this update are the new Linux 6.2 kernel which brings support for newer hardware and a new default Ubuntu installer which is now a Flutter snap. The old installer is still packaged in case of issues but the company thinks the new one is ready for prime time.

Other big changes that users will notice come from the GNOME developers. With Ubuntu 23.04, Canonical has decided to include GNOME 44 which was only released this month. You can check out our coverage from last week to see what features you may find in the new Ubuntu release. You can find the download links in the mailing list announcement.

Canonical releases Ubuntu 23.04 “Lunar Lobster” Beta